Wednesday, June 26, 2013

No H8te


Today may be the day that history gets written. Everyday we move forward, and some days we move 10 steps backward, but it's the constant progress that motivates people to keep working for the change that they want to see.

Today the US Supreme Court will make 2 major decisions on Prop 8 and DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act). The former prevents same-sex couples from getting married, and the latter restricts marriage benefits to only opposite-sex couples. If overturned, it would represent a giant step forward for the citizens of the United States, as well as light up many candles of hope in the hearts of the millions watching from other countries.

As with any great leaps forward, there is, of course, a great American love story involved. In this case, Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, citizens of New York and partners for 42 years (picture above). Just 21 months after they got married in Canada, Thea passed away due to multiple sclerosis, leaving Edith her estate of $3.5 million. This is where the law got in the way, as Edith now found herself faced with over $363,000 of federal estate taxes, none of which she would have faced if she had married a man. Last year in June, after almost 3 years of court proceedings, the court finally ruled in favour of Windsor.

In this day and age, when the concept of marriage is being questioned over and over again, who are we to doubt that this partnership was anything less than committed? Who are we to judge that what they had between them was anything less than a straight couple's? If anything, I can even argue that it takes even more to stay in a committed gay relationship because there are that many more hurdles to overcome.

I think I've said it one too many times, but nobody would choose to be gay if they could. It's too hard, it's too tumultuous a path to take, it's too emotionally stressful being rejected from society over and over again. So respect the love that we have for each other, because at the end of the day, why hate love?

I hope we hear some good news tonight. The timing couldn't be more apt. On Saturday morning, we are going to attend a talk on the Lasting Power of Attorney. Legally there are ways to ensure your partner is protected when you pass on. It's important to equip ourselves with the knowledge on how to protect the love and relationship we have, especially since the constitution doesn't. It's a free talk at various locations, and if you are reading this and are interested to know more, sign up here!

Also on Saturday, the Pink Dot event in Singapore is happening at Hong Lim Park. The pink dot lights up at 7pm, so come early to enjoy some performances and hang out with people who don't discriminate love. For sure, I'll be there.

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Edit 27/6/2013
Awesome possums both Prop 8 and DOMA were ruled unconstitutional in the US!!!!! It's another happy day in rainbow land!!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Shanghai: Nooks and Crannies

There is nothing more fun than not knowing what to do, randomly going to places which tickle your fancy, seeing things for the first time in a new light, learning about yourself throughout the process, discovering the peculiarities in everyday life. And doing it all with you.

Sun Yat Sen's Residence // Fuxing Park // Dongtai Road Antique Market

Friday, June 21, 2013

Escaping the Haze

I feel really awful for the people back home, and also a little bit scared going back to Singapore as I have asthma. Today I have been out at 2 pharmacies in Shanghai looking for masks to wear back home :X The last week has been a rollercoaster at work, the challenges seem to be mounting day by day, but let's see, I am confident I can handle them!!

So far it's been a pretty fun week, after work been going out with colleagues and getting to know them better. Nettie arrived on Wednesday with her super TOP cool hair *boom shakalaka* and I matched hers by doing an ashy gray dye myself haha.

If you're wondering how I managed to blog, it's because the heavens shifted (and so did our server) so I'm not on a local Chinese server as I type. Wheehee!

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So we touched down on Sunday, and went for dinner at Tianzifang (田子坊). It's a quaint little area with nooks and crannies of arty farty shops. There are zero Chinese restaurants there, but we had really good Thai food!!

 
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Also we have been karaoke-ing, barbecue-ing and WORKING REALLY HARD!!! :X

Friday, June 14, 2013

Off to Shanghai

It's been a cray cray busy week, trying to get settled into my new role at work. Since I just signed the contract, I guess I won't jinx it now by announcing that I got a promotion! It's a progression from what I'm doing, just moving from a more regional role to a more global role. Yay!

No guesses for where I'm spending the whole of next week at. It's back to the land of xiaolongbaos, tall people, nice architecture, quirky stores and of course, land of forbidden facebook. This time Nettie is flying in mid-week as she has meetings there as well (yay!), love love travelling together!

Just a short update here, I think blogspot is banned there as well hurrumph. But a couple colleagues are travelling together this time, so I think it's gonna be fun! Plus I have lots of work to do, it's my last time seeing Julia before she goes travel the world, so it's gonna be a big ol' rollercoaster trip I can feel it in ma bones already.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Review: Tiramisu Hero

Guess who visited during lunch?

 
Read quite a lot about The Tiramisu Hero online. It's an online venture (which is soon going brick and mortar) started by Sixpegs and her partner. To diverge a little, I always feel that news on LGBT is always too focused on the sexual aspect, and not focused enough on how we are just normal people, so I was quite pleased that she is presenting such a healthy normal image of the community. Thought to support a little, and ordered some MommaHeros for my dear colleagues.


As expected, the packaging is really cute!! Simple yet thoughtful. The tiramisus can be customized to taste, but not knowing what to expect, we stuck to the default (Alcohol 1, Wetness 2, Sweetness 2). Personally, it's not the best tiramisu we've had, but the taste is good. (The best I've had so far is still the one at Poulet, which incidentally also comes in a bottle.)
 
I personally would have preferred it a little bit more sweet and a little bit less wet. It got a bit mushy when you got to the bottom. I guess they are banking on people to be specific in their next order, after knowing what the default combi is. One other thing I didn't particularly like was that it was frozen upon delivery, and we had to wait awhile before it defrosted. No other way around it I guess with delivery logistics. Maybe they can think of some way to deliver it "fresher"?



Overall, a tad pricey for the quality, but the cuteness makes up for it. We paid about SGD 9 per bottle including delivery to CBD. Heard that they are opening up a café soon, so perhaps things would improve after that! I'm pretty impressed that within just a couple of months, they could go from online to physical café. Helps to be a famous blogger huh! A little jelly too have to admit, it is always and still my dream to own a business with Nettie. Certainly an inspiring example from Peggy and partner.

Kitty gets to keep the cute bottle. Cats should all get along no?